Amar’e Will Play; Chauncey Billups Questionable

STAT is listed as day-to-day with a muscle pull in his lower back and should be ready to go tomorrow night in Game 3, but things are a bit more complicated for the Knicks’ gimpy point guard. From the NY Daily News: “Chauncey’s doing everything he can to get back out there,’ said a Knicks official. ‘This is killing him. He feels they would have won both games if he was out there at the end.’ The Knicks said late Wednesday that the results of an MRI comfirmed a pulled muscle in Stoudemire’s back and that he’s day-to-day. The MRI on Billups revealed a strained tendon and he is listed as questionable. The Knicks are cautiously optimistic that the veteran point guard will be available at some point in the series but privately many in the organization feel he needs at least a week to recover. Billups was injured in the last two minutes of Sunday’s Game 1 loss to Boston and did not play in Game 2. Stoudemire left Game 2 late in the second quarter with back spasms and did not return. The Knicks gave both Billups and Stoudemire MRI’s for precautionary reasons. ‘We give out MRIs like they are candy so I wouldn’t look too much into it,’ a Knicks executive said early Wednesday. ‘Amar’e should be okay. He’s already said he’s playing.'”